José Gómez Rial
Head of the Immunology Department at the Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago de Compostela (CHUS), Servicio Gallego de Salud (SERGAS)
This news is long awaited and represents the beginning of the approvals that will follow one after the other over the coming months for the bivalent vaccines (original + omicron) that the companies, both Pfizer and Moderna, have developed. This is good news because of the need to update the vaccine that we have had up to now for its application in vulnerable populations, both in terms of age and immunological status, and to allow them to renew and update their immunity against a more up-to-date variant than the one contained in the current vaccine.
This vaccination will allow this group of individuals to safely develop more effective antibodies against the omicron variant and will further enhance cell-mediated immunity against SARS-CoV-2. With the application of this updated vaccine, the vulnerable population group will be able to cope with the coming waves of infection in a calmer and safer way.